Portsmouth Trojans vs. Col.Eastmoor Acad.--D3 Reg.Final

[trojandave]

Saturday night at 7:00 in the Convo, the Portsmouth Trojans will play the Columbus Eastmoor Academy Warriors for a regional championship and a Final 4 berth next week in Columbus. The Trojans sport a record of 20-6, while the Warriors come in with a mark of 16-11. Portsmouth will be trying to advance to the OHSAA state tournament for the 16th time, while Eastmoor will be playing for its first trip ever.

The Trojans defeated Ironton 72-51 in the regional semifinals on Wednesday, while the Warriors edged out Belmont Union Local 77-71 in their semifinal game. The Trojans will be facing the quickest team that they have played to date, but sizewise match up fairly well with Eastmoor. PHS has been led in tournament scoring by 6-3 sophomore Kendal Reynolds, who has tallied 80 points in 4 games. The Trojans, though, have had every starter score double figures in at least 1 game in the postseason. The Warriors are led by 6-0 senior guard Jalon Lewis, who had an outstanding game vs. Union Local. Both teams have relied on quickness and athleticism for their success this season, although Eastmoor looks to be the quicker of the two teams. Eastmoor started 2 freshmen vs. Union Local.

Eastmoor's record is deceiving because they play in the Columbus City League, where a number of the schools in their South Division are larger than they are. Eastmoor also played D1 schools Gahanna Lincoln and Reynoldsburg, both strong basketball programs. Portsmouth has played 4 tournament opponents in which each had a winning record. 4 of the Trojans' 6 regular season losses were to D1 Chillicothe, Logan, and twice to D2 Warren, all of which had winning records. The other 2 losses were to Ironton and Chesapeake, but Portsmouth beat both of those teams in the tournament and 2 out of 3 games overall. Portsmouth will be trying to end a dominant run by Columbus schools at Athens starting with last year. Columbus Harvest Prep won the D4 regional title last year, while Columbus Bishop Ready won the D3 regional title. Last night, Columbus Walnut Ridge handed undefeated Unioto its first loss of the year in the D2 regional semifinals. This year in D4 either Harvest Prep or Columbus Africentric will win the D4 regional title in a rematch of last year's regional final.

Portsmouth will be looking to advance to its 3rd Final 4 in 5 years. Coach Eugene Collins is 106-39 in just his 6th year as head coach at PHS. 6-2 junior Kyre Allison was the media's choice as the SE District POY in D3. Allison averaged 18.1 PPG, but had several games above the 30 point mark this season.

Starters for Portsmouth: Kyre Allison, 6-2 JR, Sky Oliver, 6-0 SR, Alex Dickerson, 6-3 SR, Kendal Reynolds, 6-3 SO, Ethan Leonard, 6-0 JR.

[biggdowgg]

Proud to be a Trojan this is a big accomplishment for these kids the Trojans have already made a great run and hope they can play their best game of this season on Saturday to keep the run going. No matter what happens they can hold their heads high they are the last team standing from the S/E area congrats to the Trojans and GOOD LUCK!!!!!!!!

[trojandave]

You're absolutely right, biggdowgg.........no matter the outcome tomorrow, our Trojans have made us VERY PROUD!! GO TROJANS!!

[Fan of The Blue and Gold]

No Question Portsmouth should win this game! This will be their 4th game in the Convo compared to 2 for Eastmoor. Also Portsmouth has been in the Regional Finals 3 time in the past 5 years compared to 0 for Eastmoor. Plus tournament success is about guard play and PHS's guards are playing better.

[trojandave]

I referenced in my initial post the dominance of Columbus schools in the Athens D2, D3, and D4 regionals. Here is a list of Columbus schools in the Athens regionals:

2014: D2 Champion: Columbus Watterson
D3 Champion: Columbus Bishop Ready
D4 Champion: Canal Winchester Harvest Prep (Columbus/Franklin County)

2015: D2 Regional Final: Columbus Walnut Ridge vs. New Concord John Glenn
D3 Regional Final: Columbus Eastmoor Academy vs. Portsmouth
D4 Regional Final: Columbus Africentric vs. Canal Winchester Harvest Prep

Columbus schools have found the Convo to be very friendly to them. Portsmouth is the lone SE district school left in the tournament, and the only one playing in the 3 regional finals.

[pembrook burrows III]

I'm looking to the Trojans to uphold the dignity of the Southeast District tomorrow evening. After skunking Ironton on Wednesday, Portsmouth established itself as the best in Southeast District D3 by a comfortable margin. Coach Collins really has the guys playing well at the right time, which they will have to do against Eastmoor. Yes, Eastmoor does play in the Columbus City league, but yes, they did lose 11 games this year. They are not world-beaters, and they have weaknesses to exploit. The best comparison I can offer is that Ironton lost to Columbus South this year by 10, and Eastmoor split with South, losing to them by 11, and beating them by 7.

Portsmouth matches up well with Eastmoor. Both teams are guard oriented, with no dominant low post players. Portsmouth operates more efficiently than Eastmoor in the half court offense, while Eastmoor is a better transition team. Both play excellent defense. But if Portsmouth executes like it did the last two games against the Peake and Ironton, then I think they will still be playing next week in Columbus. Good luck, Trojans!

[jottings]

Gotta root for SEOAL opponent Portsmouth in this one. Good luck, PHS

[pfloyd]

… great to see my PreSeason #1 getting the chance to play for a trip to the Show !!! best of luck to Coach Collins, is fine staff and the Portsmouth Trojan TEAM … going for a 3 outta the last 5 years appearances to the Schott … my money is on Southern Ohio, the SE District's own Trojans from P'town to carry the torch to Columbus next week ...

[biggdowgg]

Sure hope the young Trojans are getting more sleep them me,I'm ready to go!

[BubbleGumTiger]

Good luck to the Trojans. I need a reason to go to the Schott next week so get it done......and represent the SE well tonite..............

[ohbuckeye2]

Good luck Trojans, this Fighting Tiger fan will be pulling for you tonight.

[Trojan Man13]

P 10
EA 11
End 1st

[Trojan Man13]

P 24
EA 21
HALF
Allison & Oliver had a HUGE first half with 17 out of 24 points together & Portsmouth is playing good transition defense against a very quick Eastmoor team.

[Trojan Man13]

P 31
EA 29
End 3

[PantherPride]

Thanks for the updates. Keep them coming.

[Trojan Man13]

P 40
EA 43
51 seconds

[Trojan Man13]

P 43
EA 46
31 seconds
Dickerson with two huge 3s so far to keep Portsmouth in this.

[jottings]

Final score?

[Trojan Man13]

P 45
EA 49
Final

[Burg_Grad_77]

Congrats to the Trojans on another fine season and a great tourney run.